


I'm right here

by SpaceMalarkey



Series: Birth of a Nation [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 05:57:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4865603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceMalarkey/pseuds/SpaceMalarkey





	I'm right here

Far away from the sea, in a valley by a dense forest, there was a small village. The village had no name, only lovingly called a variation of "Home by the river" by the dwellers. It was in a clearing at the edge of the forest, right by a large river. This gave the villagers plenty of hunting ground and fresh water. The forest provided food and shelter in winter and by spring it brought more life to the little settlement.  
In the village, there was a boy loved by all. He would join hunts, fishing trips, and even had a firm understanding of carpentry. He was always surrounded with friends, and his mother and father were respected in the village as wise people.  
The boy dreamed of becoming a great warrior one day, like his father before him. To be a leader who could keep the peace and to ensure everyone's safety. Everything he was given, he shared with the children around him. Everything he learned, he taught others in turn.  
He gained respect like his parents, but most importantly, he made them all proud. He liked this feeling, the praise and happiness on everyone's faces.  
It was because of this the boy wished for nothing more than the continuation of this happy life.  
One day he was held inside by his mother. She seemed worried, and the boy decided he needed to make her smile again.  
She told him to not come into contact with anyone, to not touch anyone. There was a curse about, she said. A curse that would render him weak and struggling for breath.  
The boy promised her he would not touch anyone, that he wouldn't be cursed.  
Because he had become so trustworthy, his mother let him go.

His 10th winter had come, and he was spending the day in his bed. The coughing was tearing his throat apart, and he was certain his head was slowly splitting in two. He felt like he was on fire and frozen at the same time, a war between the elements inside his body.  
_It will pass soon_ He convinced himself. __  
Father will be back soon with the herbs.  
His mother stayed near him at all times, holding his hand and kissing his forehead. She would mutter wishes into his hair as she held him, and the boy started to believe he would be well. After all, if mother wished for something hard enough, she'd make it happen.  
It wasn't long until the boy fell asleep again, and slept for a long, long time.  
  
_The day was a lovely one, filled with sunshine and a light breeze. The boy ran outside and filled his lungs with the fresh autumn air._  
_Yes, the day was perfect, he decided. Especially so since he could finally be outside again._  
_It was exhausting being cursed, and he was ready for some serious playtime with his friends._  
_Now, where were they all? No one was outside, even in such perfect weather. He could hear no sounds but his own breathing. No birds chirping, no laughter from all the children playing, no commotion in the smith's workshop._  
_Something was wrong. Maybe they were all cursed too, and he was the only one who got rid of it so quickly? The boy thought hard. He had to come up with a way to make them all better. Then, a sound from behind him._  
_Of course, mother was the one who removed the curse in the first place. She would be able to help everyone. So the little boy ran back into his house, where his mother waited for him with a smile on her lips. She looked so relieved, so happy. He loved that expression._  
_When he neared her, she bent down and caught him in her warm embrace, like she always would when he came home for the day. Except this time her skin was cold. SO cold he started shivering._  
_"Mother, are you not well? You're so cold!" The little boy exclaimed. She had to be alright. She had to._  
_Mother only kept smiling, and hugged him tightly to her chest. Then she whispered, a hoarse and gurgling sound._  
_"Don't take him from me"_  
_It sounded sinister and sorrowful all at once, and it confused the boy. Wasn't his mother happy that he was well?_  
_'I'm right here' he tried to say, but no words would escape his lips._  
_There was only the cold, the tight grip around him, and the screams of his mother in his ears._  
_I'm right here._

There was a familiar sound gently ringing in the air. Water. Running water. Then rustling of trees nearby. There was the sound of bumblebees and flies, buzzing about.  
The air smelled of dirt and grass. Of pine and oak.  
The feeling of cold water running past, touching his legs. Like it tried to carry him along, taking him to another place far from this one.  
The boy opened his eyes, and saw blue sky and leaves hiding him from the sun's kiss.  
Slowly he sat upright, and looked down at himself. There were leather boots on his small feet, and his body was covered in a thin layer of linen and a leather vest. It seemed like he was too small for any other garments just yet. __  
He inspected his hands. They were rough and calloused, like he was used to physical labor of some kind.  
The boy looked into the water he had come from, and stood up properly, feeling his feet sink in the sand. He could not remember anything. Where did he come from? How did he end up here all alone, soaked to the bone? All he could do was look up in the sky with a blank look on his face.  
He could not remember who he was. He could not remember who he once held dear. All he has was loneliness. He could feel something on his cheek, running down in delicate lines.  
Why was he crying?

It wasn't long until the boy had picked himself up, dried his face, and set out on his quest for companionship. He knew he had to find people to survive. Somehow, his senses told him to go south. He did not know why, but he followed his instincts and was rewarded after three long days of wandering in the forest.  
The small town greeted him warmly, and he even managed to find a couple of kind people who would take him in for the night. When the boy believed he would be thrown out the next morning, the man of the house offered to take him in permanently as his apprentice.  
The days were long and hard, filled with heavy lifting and burning metals, but soon the boy could feel himself grow stronger. The years went by, and the boy was no longer small, but a tall young man. He could even wear pants now.  
One day, the master of the forge told him he could use the day as he pleased, since it was the day he came to them in the night.  
"A fine blessing" the master called him, and ruffled his hair fondly.  
The young man chuckled and decided he would explore the forest in greater depth than he had ever done. He had come from there after all, and he had always wondered where he originated. He could remember the river, but nothing else.  
His search started there, where he woke up that fateful morning 4 years past.  
The trail, which would take him three days as a small child would now take him just a few hours. He knew these forests well, and felt a special connection when wandering through to collect firewood.  
He reached the riverside earlier than expected, and decided to follow the water upstream. He had to have been washed with the water after all, so he would have come from the north.  
The path was rocky further up, and he could feel himself grow anxious. What if his memories returned? What if he could no longer go back to the forge master and continue his life? To him, it was his only life, a happy and purposeful one. Maybe he originated in a smaller place, with a smaller fate?  
He shook his head, as if the thoughts would fall out as he did.  
He could not think like that. This trip would be a good one. He would regain his lost memories and once again become who he was. See lost loved ones. Tell them his stories, maybe craft something for them to show how much he had learned.  
Yes, that would do nicely.  
He would show everyone his skills, and he would return to the master and his wife and continue his own life. It was time for him to do so anyway, and he felt good about getting this far already.  
A few hours later he came across what looked like a village. Excitement and anticipation grew in his stomach. This was it, this was his home. He could feel it.  
Slowly he approached the small settlement, letting memories flow through his mind.  
Over there was the field he'd play in with his friends.  
He could remember running about the village, playing hide and seek. He remembered the fisherman's hut, and how he would always ask him to teach him how to fish one day. Looking in the hut now, he could see no one. Only a foul smell remained in the room.  
As he moved on, he could see the past before his eyes. The smiles on everyone's faces when he still had to look up at everyone.  
There was something wrong however. Where was everyone? The houses looked like ruins. Like someone had forgotten this place and left it to rot.  
He passed another hut, one where his best friends lived long ago. He bit his lip and stepped through the broken door. The stench was unbearable, tearing through his nose. He quickly discovered what was wrong however.  
A corpse lay to his right, against the wall. Still somewhat fresh if the skin color was anything to go by.  
There were flies making a horribly loud buzzing, and for once that buzzing wasn't a comfortable sound like it used to be.  
He turned his head in a desperate search for someone to talk to, someone to tell him what had happened. But he only found more corpses. His friends were dead and forgotten. Rotting away without someone to properly remember them. In a blind panic, the young man ran out of the hut, past several others in the same state. Past rotting wood and flesh alike, stopping only in front of the last hut before the field they grew their greens.  
His home.  
There was a difference here. There was sound from inside. Rustling and a faint moan.  
Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he pushed open the door to his past home. Inside the stench was just as horrible as the other houses, but there was someone here. Someone was still alive, he knew.  
There, in the corner on a pile of hay, was a woman frail and weak. She was moaning and coughing softly, hugging herself in her final moments. Then she turned her head, and a sudden burst of memories came to the young man.  
There was a spark in her eyes, and with her last strength she reached out, tried to touch him.  
There was a smile on her face now, no longer the pained and lonely expression she bore earlier.  
Then she was gone. Lost in the darkness beyond this world.  
The young man took hold of her hand and held it to his cheek stained with tears, and he was once again that little boy who used to play so happily in a world of kindness and peace.  
For just one moment, he turned his world back again, back to those innocent years before the world showed him it's true colors.  
_"I'm right here._


End file.
